DSi vs DS - how good is Nintendo's new addition to the DS family?

Aw, isn't it beautiful? It's got its daddy's dual-screens and its mummy's stylus and two cute little cameras. What a bundle of joy.

DSi was officially born today and – in Japan – there are no doubt members of the press prodding and cooing over it as we speak. But is the third member of the DS family the best yet and how does it compare to middle-child DS Lite? Most importantly, do its new features warrant forking out a guestimated £110 when it's released here in spring 2009?

To help you decide whether you'll be adopting the latest DS, here's a run down of what DSi has that DS doesn't (and vice versa).

Put them side-to-side and they could be twins. But you'll notice there are subtle cosmetic differences between DS and DSi. Its screens are larger –- 3.25 inches from three inches – it has some new funky coloured lights on the left and turning the power on and off won't be done accidentally with that stupid sliding side power switch any longer because now there's a nice sensible power button on the front. Oh, and it has 'better' speakers, too.

Yes, the big screens are good news but they come at the cost of reduced battery time (we can probably blame that on a couple of the other new features that will suck it up too). Here's a little rundown of those battery times:

Nintendo DSi
Lowest brightness: 9-14 hrs
Low brightness: 8-12 hrs
Medium brightness: 6-9 hrs
High brightness: 4-6 hrs
Highest brightness: 3-4 hrs

Nintendo DS Lite
Lowest brightness: 15-19 hrs
Low brightness: 10-15 hrs
High brightness: 7-11 hrs
Highest brightness: 5-8 hrs

On the plus side, DSi fully charges in two hours 30 minutes while the DS Lite takes three hours.

Moving onto size and weight, the DSi has lost a few pounds and millimetres so will fit even more snugly into your back pocket now. The new console's dimensions are: 137 x 74.9 x 18.9mm, compared to the DS Lite which measures 133 x 73.9 x 21.5mm. And the DSi weighs 214g to the DS Lite' 218g.

Cosmetically, here you can see the DSi is a bit less shiny than the DS (which means we won't accurately be able to refer to it as a 'shiny new console' when it arrives).

DSi, when it launches in Japan in November, will come in two basic colours, matte white and matte black. So it's going to be a bit like buying Dulux paint or deciding whether you want your photos printed in matte or shiny (only you won't have the choice because if you want to upgrade to the DSi it's going to be matte or nothing to start with).

There's something arguably more important to discuss here, though, and that's the rather noticeable new black lens on DSi's lid. (Nintendo has removed the 'DD' logo from the top too, which is a good thing since it always reminded me of the Chanel logo). That's one of the DSi's two cameras (the other is positioned on the inside of the DS, in beneath the top screen).

DSi's camera is a 0.3-megapixel affair (640x480 resolution), which sounds rather puny but should be fine for display on the little screen. What's important really – because not many people are going to need to use their DS for taking day-to-day snaps, especially when most modern phones deliver high quality cameras on the cheap – is how the camera will be used for gaming.

There haven't been any games announced yet that specifically use the camera but the DSi will come with built-in software which allows photo editing. It reminds us of when we got the GBA camera and spent hours sticking moustaches on our photos using the software it came with. Happy days.

DSi, of course, refines that concept with features like the 'facial blending tool', which lets you change facial expressions in hideous ways. And there's also a mode which measures similarities between two faces. Of course, after making your friend look like Frankenstein's monster with facial herpes, you'll be able to send them the photo wirelessly to admire. That's going to be more fun than drawing rude pictures and sending them to people using Picto Chat.

(Talking of Picto Chat, that's also built into the DSi.)

Check out the side-view and you'll see the DSi has a stylus slot in the same position as DS Lite's, but the stylus itself will be a touch longer – 92mm instead of 87.5mm. How much the extra length will have on games playing now that you're able to hold your hand 4.5 millimetres further away from the DSi touchscreen remains to be seen.

It's also bye bye power slider and hello Mr SD memory card slot. So you're not a hard drive, but you will be able to store games downloaded from Nintendo's swanky new DSi Shop. You'll also mean we can store photos (taken with DSi's new camera) and edit them on our DSi and store (and edit) music.

But that music isn't going to be of the MP3 variety – DSi's 'sound' option only supports the AAC format. What DSi does have though is an editing system complete with visualisers and audio tools. The built-in bit of software even allows you to record ten-second audio samples to then play around with, overlay sounds and remove vocals.

DSi has built-in flash memory on top of that – could that be there in anticipation of a 'virtual handheld' to replace the missing GBA backwards compatibility? If Nintendo offers its back catalogue of games online, you could stream them to your DSi.

Which reminds us, have you noticed something seems to be missed? Yes, it's the GBA cartridge slot (goodbye Guitar Hero: On Tour – it seemed like a good idea at the time. Expect to find a few million of those bad boys buried in a desert somewhere in 100 years' time). It was always likely to be lost in preference for a slimmer, lighter console and gone it has. Before you shed too many tears though, there's some more good stuff to make up for it…

Like… did we mention the stylus is 4.5 millimetres longer?

Only kidding, there is more good stuff to come and that's the DSi's sexy new user interface. The console's menu system is similar in design to the Wii Channel, and it features five programs: DSi Camera, DSi Sound, DSi Shop, Picto Chat, and Download Play.

We've touched on all of these features and what they'll allow above, aside from DSi Shop (and Download Play, but you already know what that is).

The DSi Shop can be accessed directly from your DSi (when you're in a wi-fi spot, of course) so there's no need for purchase of any extras as an internet browser is built-in. The Shop will offer applications and games costing nothing and rising to 200, 500 or 800 Nintendo Points – essentially Wii's points but with a new name.

Other features such as system updates could also easily be offered via download, similar to PSP's firmware updates. And that could make it easier for Nintendo to stamp out its evil, relentless nemesis: game piracy.

As an example of the type of free program you might see, Nintendo has spoken about a digital notebook that lets you create moving comics.

Verdict
So there you have it. That's what DSi has to offer when it's released – which is November 1st in Japan and spring 2009 for Europe. But if you're still undecided on whether or not you want to trade in your DS Lite just yet, then consider the following handy list of the pros and cons.

PROS
Great new interface
Two built-in cameras
Slimmer, lighter design
Downloadable 'DS Ware' games – means a new, cheap-to-develop-for outlet for small developers and possibly a surge in creativity
Built-in flash memory
SD card support
Larger screens
Built-in web browser
Music playback
Stylus is 4.5 millimetres longer!

CONS
No GBA slot means no peripheral support for games like Guitar Hero
(it also means you can't play your GBA game on it, obviously)
Reduced battery life
It's not an MP3 player
The camera isn't good enough quality for taking general photos
Screen resolution/quality remains the same as DS Lite
Will probably cost slightly more than DS Lite